A friend of mine started making fun of me old reliable scissors/fingertips in shredding my weed and told me I'm an idiot for not using a grinder. He could have said it a bit more politely but I've read there are some advantages of using a grinder that actually improve the potency of the smoking experience. However, since I've never used a grinder, I was hoping on getting some direction. I'm assuming avoid plastic and go metal?

haha, i knew it before i clicked on the link. Kraven only plays with top shelf stuff. i use a grinder, nothing fancy though. i like ground weed vs. broken up. the smaller pieces burn more even in the pipe bowl.

It depends on how much you grind. If you're just grinding enough for a couple bowls or a joint, the one above is great. I have several and all the quality ones work great.

However, I often grind enough for 8 or 10 joints at a time (I'm a pretty heavy smoker) and the best hand grinder I have found is from Bed Bath and Beyond. I think it was $15. Pretty cheap. I'll see if I can find a link.....

Hmmm, couldn't find a link on BBandB so maybe they don't sell this model any more. There is a picture of it in the first post in this thread...

I adapted mine by securing a bolt to the top section. Then, I can put my power screwdriver on it and grind away. It will take a quarter ounce of buds and turn it into nice rolling material in about 1 minute. And, no wrist fatigue.

If you buy one of the styles like Kraven showed above, make sure you buy a metal one. The plastic ones are garbage. I have 3 metal ones and they all work fine. The plastic one broke on the first small stem. LOL

The thing I like about using a grinder is that it saves all that kief that otherwise ends up on your fingers, scissors, or rolling tray. Check out Amazon. They have a wide assortment in different colors.

Thanks for the suggestions! I've actually heard of the Santa Cruz Shredder before but didn't know it was so pricey! I might start with something on the cheap side to start, just so I can see if I like it before I invest in something higher quality. What's the approximate price range I should expect to pay for a grinder that's not utter crap? I'm not really interested in plastic but this site has some cheap wooden and metal choices - don't know the quality though:

So you haven't had any weird issues like aluminum flaking into your bud? That's kind of my worry.

Never had anything like that happen. I have had the plastic ones break off completely and I have had cheap, stamped metal ones bend. But, I have never had one of the machined aluminum ones break or flake.

Like I said, it was mostly in the machining of the threads where I saw a difference. Otherwise, the cheapo one and the good ones are pretty close.